Rick Nash to the Sharks? Probably not

Twitter came alive yesterday with chatter regarding the San Jose Sharks trading to acquire Columbus Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash. My buddy suggested I write something about it, but I swore to myself I wouldn’t until I has some solid ground to stand on.

At this point though, the rumors regarding Nash have gotten too big for me to ignore.

The Blue Jackets, at 17-34-6, are in the middle of a nightmare season and are said to be shopping Nash, their star left right wing, in hopes of beginning the rebuilding process. Nash, in his third ninth full year with the club, has 18 goals and 21 assists and would certainly be a game-changing addition should the Sharks trade to acquire him. The question is — at what cost?

Don’t get too excited — the price might be to steep. According to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, several teams are in the mix for Nash, most notably the Canucks, Flyers, Rangers and Kings. LeBrun named the Sharks as a wild card team in terms of acquiring Nash, along with the St. Louis Blues.

Should Rick Nash be traded before the trade deadline of February 27th, he would be the hottest commodity in the NHL. The demand is high, so the Blue Jackets stand to get a hefty package in return; something that perhaps would be too cost prohibitive for San Jose.

Columbus would likely demand not only a goal tender, but also a playmaking skater or two in return for Nash. The Sharks certainly have depth at goalie — with Thomas Griess as the favorite trade bait — considering that they have a solid starter in Antti Niemi as well as Alex Stalock and Tyson Sexsmith waiting in the wings. But the next name that would be called from the Sharks, as Ray Ratto of CSN Bay Area pointed out on Chronicle Live last night, would most likely be Joe Pavelski. The Dudes On Hockey agree.

Pavelski has been the breakout star for the Sharks this year with 22 goals and 22 assists. He has flourished playing with the Sharks’ top skaters this year and is probably the most valuable player on the roster; too valuable to be used in a trade package, regardless of who the Sharks would get in return. Given the chemistry and playmaking skills that Pavelski provides, Doug Wilson probably won’t be willing to part ways with him.

The next name on the list is Patrick Marleau. Marleau’s name has been mentioned more often by speculative fans than expert analysts, but the Sharks’ franchise player is an intriguing option. He has the regular season numbers to provoke trade interest. On the same token, Marleau has been a playoff underachiever, giving the Sharks reason to consider pawning him off for a better post-season asset. Chances are this probably won’t happen, though — sentiment surround Marleau is too high, both in Sharks fans’ hearts as well as Doug Wilson’s. That’s all without mentioning the no-trade clause in Marleau’s contract, an obstacle that may close the door on this option.

About the Author

Kyle McLorg (formerly Ruthless Sports Guy) is a Candlestick Kid, and that passion shines through in his writing now. When he's not picking apart the 49ers, Sharks and Giants, you can find him trying to keep his dog (half-wolf) out of trouble at the dog park. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_McLorgBASG.

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I miss having Seto on the team because he shined pretty bright for us and that was a hard loss. SJS can lessen their sacrifices for Nash by putting Niemi on the table. Nemo is Nabby 2.0 without actually being an improvement. Nemo's price is the only reason why he is starting and I think SJS royally messed up when they acquired him. Remember when J-S Giggy was supposed to be unstoppable because of one great season and a remarkable playoff? I think a Thomas-Antero rotation in goal is better for SJ and Niemi still has an allure. We don't need Niemi and CBJ does. SJS has had bad luck in goal. Kippur never should have been let go and Toskala didn't get enough time. Nabby was released way too late and they should've just hung on to him. We have a great netsman in Niitty, but are sitting him out. Niemi would perform much better without the Sharks and we really don't need him. We have great goalies in our farm and Niemi isn't clicking with the team. He has been with the Sharks for a year and a half and still doesn't know how to play as a Shark. Pitch Niemi and we can bargain non-stars as the sweeteners.

The cap hit is the only conceivable reason this trade couldn't happen, and that's why someone like Martin Havlat or Marc-Eduard Vlasic will be involved to cushion some of that salary. Would losing Vlasic hurt? Yes, obviously. But it's not a team altering move like trading Pavelski or Marleau. It's along the lines of trading Stuart, Setoguchi, Ehrhoff, Cheechoo, etc. who have been involved in trades like this before.
As for your comment on the Burns trade, all three of those pieces were completely expendable. Brodie Coyle is a project first rounder who probably didn't have a huge place on the future of this team and if any organization has been able to get success with later draft picks its been the Sharks - so that's no major loss. Despite Setoguchi's stat sheet, the guy is a complete and utter waste and good for only goal scoring and skating around like Johnny Weir. He offered us speed on the ice and little else. Brad Stuart was considered a good player at the time of the Joe Thornton trade and Jonathan Cheechoo at the time of the Dany Heatley trade, but neither of those guys were franchise defining players the way Pavelski, Couture, Marleau, Clowe and anyone else being mentioned in this asking price are. None of those guys will be part of this deal because it makes no sense from Doug Wilson's point of view.
People are discussing this trade from the Blue Jackets point-of-view as if Rick Nash's situation isn't toxic and they don't HAVE to trade him. They're in a dire situation and their captain has asked to be traded. That's a situation that's unresolvable and the Blue Jackets are going to take what they can get for him, not whatever lofty asking price people are claiming they want. I agree that it might not happen at the deadline (though keep your laptops open all day Tuesday when we head to Columbus) but of the five teams on Nash's list - San Jose, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins - the Sharks have as good a shot as any of those, if not better due to the depth of our farm system and the ingenuity of our GM, who has been pulling trades like this since he got here.

Wow. I'm not sure where I got my information on Nash from initially, but you are absolutely right - I screwed that up. I let the site administrator know about my mistake and it should be changed shortly.
As for your comments on the Sharks making big trades, the amount of talent that they've given up is up for speculation. In order to acquire Brent Burns (which was an off season move, not something done at the trade deadline), they had to pawn off Setoguchi, Coyle and a first round pick. I wouldn't exactly call that "expendable defensemen or draft picks." Not that Setoguchi was far and above the best forward on the Sharks roster, but he has certainly proved to be a playoff stand out in the last two seasons and an offensive difference maker.
In order for the Sharks to get Joe Thornton they sent Boston three players, including Marco Sturm and Brad Stuart, also not expendable talent. The Sharks had to send Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second rounder to Ottawa for Heatley, but Michalek has turned out to be a pretty good player even if Cheechoo fell into obscurity.
The point is that given the current state of the Sharks, this move is something that Wilson will probably pursue in the off season rather than at the trade deadline. The players that the Sharks would have to give up in order to acquire Nash (like Pavelski or Marleau, as I mentioned) are too valuable to the current construct of the team to send away right now. That's all without mentioning the cap hit that the Sharks would take by adding Nash, which would be substantial.

I clicked this since you happened to be the top link on google when I searched "Rick Nash Sharks" to find any NEWS regarding the situation. Instead I got a random summation of stuff that didn't make any sense. Rick Nash is a RIGHT winger who was drafted first overall in the 2002 draft playing his NINTH full season with the club and has been their captain for the past four seasons. Then you spouted out random heresay from a roundtable discussion forum without delving at all into the topic. You also fail to mention that the Sharks are notrious for pulling big name trades such as this with Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, and Brent Burns and in all instance parted with little more than expendable defensemen and draft picks. I understand that you're writing a news column or whatever, but if you don't know anything about the topic just don't even bother. Not meant to be harsh, just a pointed criticism.

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